Road grader



May 12, 193.1. w. J. scHLAcKs 1,805,051

I ROAD GRADER Filed July 28, 1928 5 Sheets-s116911 l May 12, 1931. w. J. sc'HLAcKs 1,805,051

ROAD GRADER Filed July 28. 1928 5 sheets-sheet 2 May 1`z, 1931.

W. J. SCHLACKS ROAD GRADER Filed July "28. 1928 May 12, 1931. w. J. scHLAcKs ROAD GRDER Filed July 28, 1928 5 Shets-Sheet 4 nl l ww www .QW uw nm, K Nm 4 Il i -m VN N.. @u m May 12,` 1931. w. J. scHLAcKS 1,805,051

RoAD GRADER Filed July 28. 1928 5 sheets-sheet 5 Patented May 12, 1931 narran stares PATENT iOFFIcEI afirman J. sonnnc'nson entende, LLrnois, nssie'non "rc RYAN'MNFG. centomi- -f toit, Granfondo, runners, A confrontation or ILLINOIS ROAD G1R-ABER Application led July 28,

My invention relates in general to road graders and has for its broadv object the provision of an improved' road grader of simplified construction.

The type of grader to which my invention is particularly applied, is illustratedr in the copending application of Daniel C. Hinds, Serial* No. 689,416, filed January 30, 1924, now Patent No. 1,782,892,-and Owen E. Grigsby, Serial N o; 110,385', filed May 20, 1926. These graders comprise a wheeled carriage with a tiltable main frame and a drawbar having a universal joint connection thereto. The drawbar has a number ofadjustments including means for lifting either the front or rear end thereof, means'for shifting the drawba'r sideways, and a large number of compound movements resulting from proper control of the lifting and' side shifting mecha# nisms. p

The present invention relates specifically, to control mechanisms for thedrawbar particularly the mechanism for liftingthe front end thereof and for shifting' the moldA board and frame sideways.' It relates valso to certainrefinements of structure which improve the flexibility of performance, yeliminate possible weak points in the structure, and reduce manufacturing andy maintenancecosts.

VThe principal specific object of the invenl tion is to improvethe drawbar control mechanism. i Y n Y Anotherv object is to modify the drawbar control so that a back sloping operation may be performed on either side of the grader. Another object is to improve the mold boardk side-shifting mechanism.

Another object is to improve the mechanism for lifting the front or pivoted end of the drawbar.

Another object is to provide an improved connection between the Vdrawbar and main frame which can be 'easily assembled. n

There are other specific `features and objectsV of ymy invention which will become ap`` parent as the detailed description progresses'l andi wil-l appear in the accompanying drawings illustrating one embodiment wherein',

Fig. l is aside elevational view partly broken away showing the drawbar witha- 1928. serial no. 295,912. n

portion of the main frame from whichitis suspended; 'y 1. Fig. 2 isa sectional view along the line`2`i42' ofFig. l showing thedrawbar in plan Fig. Slis an irregularsectionall vi the line'3;3 of Fig. 1; 1 j A Fig. 4 is a fragmentary'plan section along the line 4-'-4 of Figl'.;

Fig. 5 is a detail of the trolley carriage with the crank mechanism shownA in eleva; tion, the view being a section along the line 5 5ofFig-3; l

Fig. 6 is afvertioal longitudinal elevationk section through the drawbar lift mechanism" showing the front post of themain frame' land its connection to the fronta/Xle, and i Fig. 7 is a sectional. plan view through 'the drawbar lift mechanism along the line 7-#7 Of Fig. 6; i

'In order that the improvementsl forming? the rsubject matter of the present invention may be clearly understood, thegenera'l arf rangement existing between-.the drawb'ar and other portions of the grader will first bedescribed. The Vgrader comprises a main frame' 10 suitably secured tothe rear'wheel carriage' ew along` .v

and having affront post 11 with a ba1'l12'atv f thebottom thereof suitably supported in *a` front axle 13 on the ends of which are wheels 14"." In thistype of grader, the wheels are tiltable with respect ltothe axle; themain` frameis also tiltable; and the axle may-,be

`turnedA about the ball 12 as afpiv'ot'to change the direction.oftravelWof'the grader. The frame Vcarries a centralY power-house forperating the various adjustments but it ris obvious that the controlsv maybe operated from any source of power, without departing' from the spirit of the'linvention. y

Suspended below the grader frame, is a drawbar 14 carrying the circle frame 16'l to" which is secured a mold'lboard 17. The drawbar is secured at its front end vint4 them'ain formsv lofmechanisml could be lprovided forthis; purpose, but vI have deifelopedv a struc-1` ture which is greatly'superior tov anything of this nature heretofore employed. f

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The drawbar itself consists of two longitudinal members 18 and 19, preferably Z- beams, forming a V suitably secured at the apex to an apeX member or stem 21 which is provided with a ball 22. At the rear of the drawbar suitable braces are provided to maintain the proper relative position of the longitudinal beams and for mounting control members and the like thereto.

Referring now more particularly to the front of the drawbar, the main frame post 1l has a slot 23 into which the stem is adapted to project and a cross piece or block 24 formed of two parts held together by bolts 26, surrounds the ball 22 and holds it in loosely so that it may be moved with respect thereto. The cross piece has a pair of projections 27 and 28 at the front thereof between which a worm 29 is supported, the worm being free to move vertically on a shaft 31 which is carried by a post cover 32. The shaft 31 and worm 29 are provided with keyways, and a key 30 is held inthe worm keyway and extends loosely into the key-way in the shaft 31; The post cover has gear teeth 33 on the inside thereof constituting a rack so that rotation of the shaft 31 will causey worm 29 to turn in engagement with the rack and draw itself with the cross piece and drawba-r either upwardly or downwardl depending upon the direction of rotation.

s a drive for the shaft 31, a bevel gear 33 is provided at the top thereof meshing with a second bevel gear 34 on a shaft 36 suitably journaled in the top of the main frame post.

A shaft 36 hasa universal joint 37 to a'drive shaft 38 leading to a suitable source of power at the rear of the grader.

The projections 27 and 28 at the front of the cross piece are sodisposed that the shaft 31 can be inserted therebetween. This shaft is carried by the cover 32 and this simplifies theassembly considerably. The cover with the square shaft and worm 29 together with the bevel gear33 at the top thereof, are assembled as a separate unit. As another unit the cross piece 24 is assembled in the front post. with the ball 22,'and the shaft 36 and the bevel gear. 34 are assembled in the top of the post. All that is necessary to complete the assembly then, is to place the post cover on the post so that the gears 33 and 34 mesh andthe square shaft extends between the projections on the cross piece with the worm 29 between thev upperfand lower pairs of projections. i

The rear end of the drawbar is provided with a supporting mechanism adapted to be controlled for raising and lowering or otherwise adjusting the drawbar about the front pivot. The support for this mechanism comprises a pair of parallel I-beams 41 and 42 secured transversely of the frame. On the upper part of these I-beams is secured a pair of brackets 43 and v44 in which shafts 46 and 47 are journaled. The shafts have secured thereto at one end, cranks 48 and 49 which are attached to one end of links 51 and 52, the lower ends of said links being pivotally connected to brackets 53 and 54 carried by the drawbar members 18 and 19 respectively. The other ends of the shafts 46 and 47 have secured thereon worm gears 56 and 57 which mesh with worms 58 and 59 carried by vertical shafts 61 and 62 suitably j ournaled in a portion of said first mentioned brackets. These vertical shafts have at the upper end thereof, worm gears 63 and 64 which mesh with and are driven by worms 66 and 67. rlhese worms are keyed to shafts 68 and 69 also suitably journaled in the brackets aforesaid and connected by universal joints 71 and 72 to drive shafts 73 and 74 leading to a suitable source of power at the rear of the grader.

l/Vith this construction, it is apparent that the links 5l and 52 carri-ed by the cranks support the rear end of the drawbar, and rotation of the cranks serves to position the rear end of the drawbar vertically. rhese cranks may be operated in unison in the same dir-ectionor they may be made to take opposed positions to tilt the drawbar sideways, if no other controlling mechanism whatsoever wereA provided. l incorporate with this construction however, an improved side thrust mechanism by means of which the drawbar may be controlled when the frame is in proper position to dispose the moldboard in a vertical position outside the line of draft of the grader in which position it may be used for cutting down backslopes and other similar operations which heretofore have been impossible of performance, or diflicultly performable.

In my improved structure, a side thrust chain 76 is trained around a pair of sprocket gears 7 7 and 78 suitably secured between the transverse members 41 and 42 and transversely aligned with respect to each other. One ofthe links of the chain is connected to a carriage 81 having c a plurality of wheels 82-82 riding upon the l-beams as on a track. Movement of the side thrust chain will therefore drive the carriage 81 either to the left or right along the l-beams depending upon which direction the chain is turned. I provide mechanism for driving this chain from the central ,power source and this mechanism will now be described.

The sprocket gear 77 is keyed to a shaft 83 disposed longitudinally of the frame and j ournaled in a supporting bracket. @ne end of the shaft 83 has secured thereon a worm gear 84 which meshes with a worm 85 on a shaft 86 suitably journaled in said supporting bracket. The upper end of this shaft is provided with a bevel gear 87 meshing with a bevel gear 88 which is keyed or otherwise secured toa small shaft 89 connected by a universal joint 91 with a drive shaft 92. This momen.

drive shafteX-tends rearwardly for connection to the central power source on. the-rear of theA grader. vli/leansi(not shown) is provided for turning this shaft in either direction so as to drive thecarriage through `lthe gearing and h p n ing 1nl the same' v1c1n1'ty,the. usual right chain. shown eitherto the right or left. y

l provide an improved lconnection between the carriage and the drawbar. Agshortvpink 96 is secured'by a nut97 `to thecarriage so asA to. depend yvertically therefrom and is pivotallyl connected W98-toa link 99. 'Thislinkis connected to the? drawbar in a novel ,manner whereby an unusual result takes pla-ce and this mounting :will now be described.

In a preceding portion lof the specication,

certain transversexbrace members ywere de` scribed as constitutinga partof the drawbar frame, The rearmost of these, designated by the reference character 101, issecured slightly 'to the rear of the links connected to the crank mechanism. It is secured to the Z-bars or this reason the drawings and' description disclosethis arrangement.

A channel extension 102 is secured by nuts and bolts 108-103to the extension v'101e of the transverse brace. A pair of bracing members 104 haveone end-thereof secured tothe channel extension 102 bymeans of nuts and bolts 106-106 and the other ends thereof .secured to the transverse brace member 101 by nuts and bolts 107-.107i Thesebrace'members are of general arcuate shapeso as to extend over .the top of theZ-bar18@ Bolts andnuts 108*108 are provided to-Isecure the bracing members to the Z-bars' and braetheY entire extension assembly. .On Vthe larger size of graders, Ialso provide a pair of bracing plates 109-109 suitably secured between the" channel extension 102 and the-'endfof-fth'e transverse bracemember 101. v

there is a bracket 111 secured thereto by bolts i 112' and having a longitudinal aperturefeX-v tending therethrough, the axis of which is at an acute angle to the plane `of the channel extension. A bolt'1'13 hasits shank extendingvthroughthis aperture and" is secured" therein. by a suitable nut 114. g Boltll has a yoke at its upper end and isadapted'tocooperate with a! single yoke provdedon the depending end of the link 99-whereby a' suitable arrangement of pivots/and the use of an intermediate member,V af Vprojg` `er-universal joint y116 provided. l jf Asv previously noted, the channel extension 102 is normally carried on the left side of the drawbar. i The reason for'this is that with the usual manipulation of the Vmold inade.- f ,Y

board, this position permitsthe'.l grader to work. alongfthe right side of'aroad and" henceA lmove along V,with whatever traiic.

might; possibly beiv on the road; or` where va number of road building machines are workside of the transverse member 101 so that'the entire extension assembly may vbevery easily and readily shifted: The connection betweeny the extension assembly and the drawbar proper being by means/of easily controlled nuts and. bolts, it isiobvious that with holes al1-l ready provided inthe properliplaces on thev drawbar the changejcan. bevexpeditiously In order' to make the 'detailsaand advantages of thisconstruction -clearerto those skilled inthe art, I' may pointout that theV principal advantage of.y this reveifsible construction Vwhich I have found in vmy experiments. upto the present time, is inoperatingfon. the back slope.vv With the present type/of grader, the' mold 'board may be brought to .practically vertical position outside the line of draft of the grader-and a substantially vertical wall may be formed along the right side of the road. If this wall were to be cut on the right v side of the road at all times',.great diliculty might be experienced.' in hilly-regions because. it would sometime be necessary'toworkiuphill.v In this case the right side of theroad canl be worked down-a' grade with the parts. in thepposition shown ini the'drawings.k When therightside-- is". completed, the'parts are changed to the position shown in dotted lines (Fig. 3;) Vand then. the left side of the road can be worked downl hill; yIn this lway the grade is taken advantage of andvinv no. respect'will'itbecome anobst'acle.y

The details #of i the graderl limprovements are notnecessarily as pictured'and' described? n hereimandV theJ scope of the invention i's del At the extremity of the'channel extension,

fined inthe appended claims. y

by United States'fLetters'Patent isz end extending'intos'aid post andv means for reciprocating the frontend ofthe drawbar verticallyl within said .post

2.y In a road grader, af ma'in fram'eihavingy a front post with a vertical openingitherein, f

a drawbar having asupportat.` the ,front` thereof extend-ing' into-fthe post through said Vertical"opening and ineansffor shifting said support "vertically therein to raise or lower 'the front end'ofthe drawbar. f

3. In a roa'dgrader,a1-main framewith'a] hollow vertically disposed' front post, a drawbar' suspended belowV the frame, avv universal joint 'connection between the frame .and drawbar disposed within said hollow post, and `means for raising and lowering said joint within said post to alter the position of the front end of the drawbar.

4,. In a road grader, a main frame with a vertically disposed hollow post at the front end thereof, a drawbar suspended below the main frame having a ball disposed at the front end thereof and extending intothe post, a block forming a socket for the ball also disposed within the post, and means for raising and lowering the block in the post to alter the vert-ical position of the front end of the drawbar.

5. In a road grader, a main frame with a vertically disposed hollow post at the front end thereof with a vertical runway therein, a drawbar suspended beneath the frame with a ball at the front end thereof extending into the post, a block forming a socket for said ball supported in therunway, a gear carried by the block, a rack disposed within the post, and means for turning the gear with respect to the rack for moving the block vertically vwithin the post to alter the position of the front end of the drawbar. Y f

6. In a road grader, a main frame having a hollow vertically disposed front post, a drawbar suspended below the frame with a ball at the front end thereof, a block having a socket for holding the ball to form a substantially universal oint, a vertical rack carried by the post on the inside thereof, a

- worm meshing with the rack and rotatably carried by the block and means for rotating the kworm with respect to the rack to move the block along the axis of the post to alter liel positionof the front endof the drawr7.- In a road grader, a'main frame having a hollow front post, a cover therefor, a drawbar having its frontend projecting into the post and mechanism carried by the post and cover for reciprocating the frontend ofthe drawbar vertically. f

8. The combination defined in claimv 7 wherein said reciprocating mechanism ris assembled partly in the post and partly on the cover, the various portions of the mechanisms beingbrought into final operable relationship by the application of the cover-to the post. 9; In a road grader, a main frame having a hollow front post with a cover at the front thereof and a longitudinal opening at the rear, a drawbarsuspended below the frame with thefront end thereof extending through theopening into the post, a block within the post forming a support for the drawbar, a rack carried by the cover on the inside thereof, a worm carried by the block and meshing with the rack on the cover, and means for turning the worm to adjust the position of the block along the axis of the post.

` 10. In a road grader,-a main frame having a hollow front post with a longitudinal opening at the rear thereof, a drawbar suspended from the main frame and having a ball at the front `end thereof extending through the opening into the post, a block forming a socket forthe ball and vertically reciprocable with respect to the post, a rack on the inside of the post, a vertically disposed worm carried by the block and meshing with the rack, a rotatable vertical shaft slidably supporting the worm, and means for rotating the shaft to cause the block to move vertically with respect to the post.

11. In a road grader, a main frame with a hollow front post, a cover for the post having a rack on the inside thereof, a vertically disposed shaft journaled to the cover, a worm rotatable with the shaft but slidable with respect thereto and meshing with the rack, a drawbar suspended beneath the frame and having a ball at the front end thereof extending into the hollow post, a block within the post forming a socket for the ball, and a connecting means between the block and said worm for imparting to the block, vertical movement of the worm incident to the operation of the shaft.

12. In a road grader, a main frame with a. hollow front post, a cover for the post having a rack on the inside thereof, a vertically disposed shaft ournaled to the cover, a worm rotatable with the shaft but slidable with respect thereto and meshing with the rack, a drawbar suspended beneath the frame and having a ball at the front end thereof extending into the hollow post, a block within the post forming a socket for the ball and having upper and lower pairs of projections extending around the shaft and supporting the worm between the same, and means for imparting rotary movement to said shaftto move the block vertically within the post.

13. In a road grader, a main frame with a hollow front post, a cover for the post having a rack on the inside thereof, a vertically disposed shaft ournaled to the cover, a worm rotatable with the shaft but slidable with respect thereto and meshing with the rack, a drawbar suspended beneath the frame and having a ball at the front end thereof extending into the hollow post, a block within the post forming a socket for the ball and having upper and lower pairs of projections extending around .the shaft and supporting the worm between the same, a drive shaft horizontally ournaledat the top of the post and a bevelled gear connection between the drive shaft and said first mentioned shaft to move the block vertically within the post.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this A7th day of May, 1928.

` WILLIAM J. SCHLACKS. 

